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How the British Broke Their Own Economy
15 hours ago
- Britain faces a productivity slump and stagnant real wages for 16 years, with a housing and energy shortage at the core of its economic woes.
- The 1947 Town and Country Planning Act (TCPA) and green belts restrict new housing development, causing homeownership rates to plummet and prices to double since the 1990s.
- Energy scarcity results from reduced nuclear power, declining gas production, and high construction costs, leading to electricity prices more than double those in France.
- Environmental regulations and frivolous lawsuits add significant costs to infrastructure projects, such as a £100 million bat shield for a railway.
- Reforms are needed to overhaul planning laws, reduce anti-growth litigation, and encourage private investment in housing and energy, including nuclear and gas production.
Australia is offering free daytime electricity
14 days ago
- Starting July 1, 2026, households in NSW, South-East Queensland, and South Australia can access at least 3 hours of free daytime electricity daily through the Solar Sharer Offer by opting in with their retailer and having a smart meter.
- A key change after public consultation is the addition of a 24 kWh daily usage cap during the free window to ensure the scheme's financial sustainability and fairness.
- Savings range from $100 to $1,100 per year based on how much energy use is shifted into the free period, with estimates from the DCCEEW.
- The scheme is especially beneficial for those home during the day, households with schedulable appliances, and renters or apartment dwellers who previously lacked solar access.
- Solar and battery owners can charge batteries for free during the window, and EV owners can schedule charging to reduce costs, though high-draw activities may approach the cap.
What's slowing down the AI buildout
22 days ago
- The AI buildout is slowed by the bottleneck of connecting new data centers and power plants to the electric grid, not by an overall energy shortage.
- Grid interconnection processes are backlogged, with wait times increasing from less than 20 months in 2005 to 55 months in 2023, due to outdated first-come, first-served systems.
- Demand for electricity is rising due to AI, electrification trends, and technologies like EVs, straining grids and causing congestion costs of $11.5 billion in 2023 in the U.S.
- Energy markets and price signals help balance supply and demand, but regulatory interventions and fixed consumer rates can lead to inefficiencies and irrational energy use.
- Reforms like auctioning grid capacity, adopting connect-and-manage approaches for flexible data centers, and promoting demand response can speed up connections and reduce costs.
Bipartisan bill fails to protect consumers from datacenters' true costs
23 days ago
- The Ratepayer Protection Act is criticized for being largely voluntary and ineffective in protecting consumers from rising electricity costs due to datacenters.
- Datacenter expansion has caused electricity prices to spike by up to 267% in some regions, with significant increases in wholesale prices and other hidden costs.
- The bill prioritizes datacenter and utility needs, offering benefits like faster construction and grid connections, while ignoring broader public costs like water use and pollution.
- Consumer advocates argue the bill fails to address cumulative environmental impacts, such as water resource depletion and PFAS pollution from cooling systems.
- Proposed measures include reducing environmental reviews under NEPA, which could accelerate datacenter development instead of slowing it for community protection.
- Critics call for a moratorium on new AI datacenter projects and stronger regulatory oversight to prioritize community well-being over rapid industry growth.
- State utility commissions, already accused of favoring datacenters, are given only voluntary guidelines to control costs, making meaningful consumer protection unlikely.

Hasty Briefsbeta

energy policy

How the British Broke Their Own Economy

Australia is offering free daytime electricity

What's slowing down the AI buildout

Bipartisan bill fails to protect consumers from datacenters' true costs